The World Wide Web (“web”) has evolved from first generation web systems that simply provided information to client computers over the Internet through a web browser program, to second generation systems using application servers that provide dynamic, personalized information and powerful back-end transaction processing.
A great number of commercial applications have become adapted to on-line systems, thus establishing a base of many different types of electronic commerce or “e-commerce” transactions. One traditional commercial transaction type that has become adapted to online implementations is that of financial loans. The loan application process is often a complicated and confusing process for average borrowers. There are a great many different types of loans available depending upon the type of loan required, such as personal loans, home mortgages, business lines of credit, and so on. There are also many different variables or negotiable terms associated with each loan, such as interest rate, loan period, and the like. In most cases, a detailed profile of the borrower is required because factors such as age, employment, financial history, credit rating and so on, can have a great deal of impact on the cost or even qualification for a loan. Moreover, loans are available from many different sources, such as traditional banks to private and commercial money lenders.
Thus, the process of applying for and obtaining a loan can be complicated and time consuming because of the great number of variables regarding the loan, the lender, and the borrower, as well as the number of parties involved in the loan process. Because of the distributed information-intensive nature of the loan industry, a class of loan brokers, often referred to as “loan originators” or “loan origination services” has emerged to aid borrowers in finding and obtaining the proper loan. The advent of loan originators has served to provide an important interface between borrowers and the various lenders who might have an appropriate loan product.
The widespread use of the Internet has generally led loan originators to recognize and accept the Internet and computerized processes as viable and promising vehicles with which to conduct business. Traditional loan processing involves a great deal of customer support, data input, and expedited mailing and delivery of physical documents. These factors present areas of great cost and potential problems in the loan application, processing, and delivery transaction. Although most present loan originators have implemented software systems to automate their processes, typical loan origination systems (LOS) do not provide a comprehensive interface between borrowers and lenders. Furthermore, most present loan origination systems do not provide comprehensive form and document completion process that truly automates the loan application process and minimizes the errors associated with individually completing all of the separate forms required in a typical loan transaction. A further disadvantage associated with present on-line implemented loan application systems is the typically complex loan file export and manual form population process that is required on the lender and loan origination vendor web sites.
Although comprehensive software systems have been developed to integrate lender, broker, and third party vendors within Internet-based loan application and fulfillment networks, such systems often involve extensive interfacing or customization of each party's computer networks. For example, present systems typically require that each individual lenders or third parties install application interfaces or custom components that render their network portal computers compatible with certain specific broker computer systems or commercially available loan origination system program. Such a requirement is often burdensome to the lenders and third parties. These systems also present potential sources of problems, and can often require redundant storage or transmission of existing data.
What is needed, therefore, is a loan processing system that provides an efficient interface between lender computers and broker computers that accesses data and resources already available on the broker computer system.
What is further needed is a web-based interface that transfers data from a lender computer network to a broker network without requiring the lender to install extensive programs or program interfaces.